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Chapter 4 Affected Environment and Impacts of MSHCP and Alternatives

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Chapter 4 Affected Environment and Impacts of MSHCP and Alternatives Clark County MSHCP/EIS 4. Affected Environment/Impacts of MSHCP & Alternatives Chapter 4 Affected Environment and Impacts of MSHCP and Alternatives 4.1 Setting Clark County is located in the southernmost tip of Nevada, as shown in Figure 4-1. It is bordered on the north by Lincoln County, Nevada; on the east by Mojave County, Arizona; on the southwest by San Bernardino and Inyo Counties, California; and on the west by Nye County, Nevada. It covers approximately 7,880 square miles, or about 7 percent of the state’s total area. It is Nevada’s most populated county, with an estimated 1997 population of 1,170,113, or about 67 percent of the state total (Clark County Department of Comprehensive Planning 1997). Elevations within Clark County range from 450 feet above mean sea level along the Colorado River to 11,918 feet at Charleston Peak (see Figure 4-1). Much of the county has features that are characteristic of the Great Basin, such as mountain ranges that extend in a north-south direction and erode laterally to long, narrow desert valleys. The mountain ranges are generally steep and composed primarily of bedrock. Wide alluvial fans or aprons extend from the base of the mountains and level out to basin lowlands. The basin lowlands have been continually filling since the mountains were originally formed and have a surface generally composed of fine sand, silt, and clay. The Las Vegas Valley extends in a northwest-southeast direction with the Spring Mountains to the west; the Pintwater, Desert, Sheep, and Las Vegas Mountains to the north; Frenchman Mountain to the east; and the Bird Spring and McCullough mountain ranges to the south. The valley drains toward the south and then easterly through Las Vegas Wash to Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Valley elevations range from 4,500 feet at the upper boundaries of the alluvial fan to 1,800 feet in the basin lowland. Las Vegas Valley is the major watershed in Clark County and is fed from precipitation in the Spring Range and Sheep Mountains to the west and north. Surface hydrology is marked by complex flow patterns in the alluvial fans of the valley with areas of Final 4-1 9/00 4. Affected Environment/Impacts of MSHCP & Alternatives Clark County MSHCP/EIS concentrated but shifting flows. Las Vegas Wash is the only perennial stream in the valley. Other primary surface waters include the Virgin River in the northeastern portion of the county; the Muddy River, which is spring fed; the Colorado River; and Lake Mead. Soils in Clark County are primarily entisols and aridisols with a few mollisols occurring at the upper elevation of mountain ranges and on high plateaus. Entisols have little or no evidence of development of pedogenic horizons. They are found in areas where soils are actively eroding (steep slopes) or receiving new deposits of soil materials (alluvial fans and floodplains). Aridisols have one or more pedogenic horizons that may have formed in the present environment or may be relics from a former pluvial period. Aridisols, often associated with desert pavement, do not have water available to plants for long periods of time and the surface is generally bare. Mollisols are very dark colored, base rich soils found at high elevations. A few mollisols are found high in the Spring Mountains, in the Sheep Range, and at approximately 5,000 feet in the Virgin Mountains and Gold Butte area. Air masses moving across southern Nevada are usually low in moisture. This arid condition is characterized by low precipitation, low humidity, and cloudless skies. Summer climate is marked by hot days and mild nights, with an average daily temperature of nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter temperatures drop below freezing about 12 days per year, with average daily temperatures of 46 degrees Fahrenheit during the coldest period. Spring and autumn are generally moderate, with average daily temperatures of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Within Las Vegas Valley, average daily temperatures range from 75 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit in summer and from 33 to 56 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. Due to the rain shadow effect of the Sierra Nevada Range and Spring Mountains to the west, moisture associated with storms originating in the Pacific Ocean rarely reach the valley. Humidity is normally low; averaging 30 percent, but moist tropical air from the southwest invades the area from mid to late summer. Thunderstorms and flash flooding frequently occur during this period. Inversions or periods of stagnant air masses occur during winter months and prevail for several days to a week. Final 4-2 9/00 Clark County MSHCP/EIS 4. Affected Environment/Impacts of MSHCP & Alternatives 4.2 Land Management in the Plan Area The MSHCP plan area includes all of Clark County. In addition, specifically for the desert tortoise, the MSHCP also includes NDOT rights-of-way (including material sites) below 5,000 feet in elevation and south of the 38th parallel in Nye, Lincoln, Mineral, and Esmeralda Counties. The plan area for the Clark County MSHCP (excluding water surface, which is primarily in Federal management and outside of the plan area) totals just over 5.1 million acres (Table 4-1, Figure 4-2). Land in the plan area is divided among Federal (87.4 percent), state and local governments (2.6 percent), and private landholders (9.8 percent). TABLE 4-1 LAND MANAGEMENT IN CLARK COUNTY Management Acres Percent Federal 4,423,300 87.4 BLM 2,811,500 55.6 USFWS 496,700 9.8 NPS 454,300 8.9 USFWS/Nellis Range 355,600 7.0 USFS 276,800 5.4 Nellis AFB 12,600 < 1.0 (0.24) USAF/NSAR 7,900 < 1.0 (0.15) USAF/ISAFAF 7,500 < 1.0 (0.14) USAF/NAFR 300 < 1.0 (0.005) Non-Federal 133,100 2.6 Boulder City Easement 86,700 1.7 State of Nevada (including NDOT) 32,300 < 1.0 (0.63) NDOW Overton WMA 14,100 < 1.0 (0.27) Private 420,500 8.3 Privately Held Lands 420,500 8.3 Native American Reservations 79,100 1.5 Moapa River Indian Reservation 71,500 1.4 Las Vegas Paiute Indian Reservation 3,900 < 1.0 (0.07) Fort Mojave Indian Reservation 3,700 < 1.0 (0.07) Total 5,056,100 100.0 4.2.1 Federal 4.2.1.1 Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management administers about 2.81 million acres, or about 55.6 percent of the land, in Clark County (see Figure 4-2). Final 4-5 9/00 4. Affected Environment/Impacts of MSHCP & Alternatives Clark County MSHCP/EIS a. Existing Laws, Regulations, Plans, and Policies (1) Management Framework Plan Until the recent adoption of the Las Vegas RMP, two existing land use plans, the Clark County MFP (BLM 1984) and the Esmeralda–Southern Nye RMP/EIS–Planning Area B (BLM 1986), provided management direction for the Stateline Resource Area. The MFP outlined major land use decisions and guided the management of public lands in the county. In general, the plan classified BLM holdings as suitable for disposal or as lands to be retained for multiple use: • Lands classified for disposal (such as those in the Las Vegas Valley subunit) can be transferred to states, counties, municipalities, and private interests. • Lands to be retained are managed by BLM for fish and wildlife development, outdoor recreation, mineral production, watershed protection, wilderness preservation, domestic livestock grazing, and preservation of public values. (2) Las Vegas Resource Management Plan/EIS In June 1998, BLM issued a Final Las Vegas Resource Management Plan for the management of 3.7 million acres of public lands administered by the BLM in Clark and Southern Nye Counties. BLM signed a record of decision approving the plan in October 1998. The Las Vegas RMP replaces the Clark County MFP and the Esmeralda–Southern Nye RMP. Both the Esmeralda–Southern Nye RMP/EIS–Planning Area B (1986) and the Clark County MFP required amendment or revision for several reasons: (1) a regularly scheduled five-year evaluation of the Clark County MFP indicated that the plan was not adequately providing for the rapidly changing public land use demands in Clark County; (2) neither land use plan anticipated the listing of the desert tortoise as a threatened species and did not, therefore, provide for the recovery of the desert tortoise; and (3) public land disposals and exchanges, such as Aerojet and Apex, being accomplished by legislative action had demonstrated the inadequacies of the existing land use plan. Plan amendments normally focus on the resolution of a single issue, while a plan revision is usually developed when multiple issues need to be resolved. Rather than amend the Clark County MFP and Esmeralda–Southern Nye RMP/EIS–Planning Area B on a single-issue basis, the decision was made to prepare the Las Vegas RMP/EIS, addressing the area covered by both of the existing plans. Generally, either action would have required an EIS. Decisions in the Clark County MFP and Esmeralda–Southern Nye County RMP/EIS determined to constitute valid management were carried forward into the Las Vegas RMP/EIS. Final 4-6 9/00 Clark County MSHCP/EIS 4. Affected Environment/Impacts of MSHCP & Alternatives Over three million acres of desert tortoise habitat occur within the Las Vegas RMP. To comply with the ESA, the BLM must consult with the USFWS on all Federal actions (including the RMP/EIS) and take positive actions to aid in the recovery of all listed species. The Final Las Vegas RMP/EIS compares the provisions of Alternatives A, B, C, D, and Supplemental Alternative E as set forth in the 1992 draft Stateline Resource Area RMP/EIS and 1994 Supplemental RMP/EIS with respect to grazing, the number of acres proposed to be contained within ACECs, the number of acres proposed to be disposed of by the BLM, the number of acres proposed to be withdrawn for the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center, wild horse and burro policy, recreation and OHV use, and mining.
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